USDA Secretary in Santa Fe announces agency intends to repeal Clinton-era ‘roadless’ rule

United States Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks to reporters in Santa Fe on Monday, June 23, 2025. (Photo by Julia Goldberg/ Source NM)

United States Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins announced Monday afternoon that her agency intends to repeal a 24-year-old rule that prohibits road construction and timber harvesting on 91,000 square miles of federal Forest Service land.

Rollins, speaking at the Western Governors’ Association meeting in Santa Fe, said the protections President Bill Clinton imposed for “inventoried roadless areas” in 2001 hamper forest management and wildfire prevention. She also noted that repealing the ban would get more “logs on trucks” as the Trump administration seeks to rekindle a nationwide logging industry in federal forests.

“The heavy hand of Washington will no longer inhibit the management of our nation’s forests. Under the leadership of President Trump, this administration knows timber production is critical to our nation’s well-being,” Rollins said.

The announcement drew swift condemnation from several environmentalist groups, including the Wilderness Society and the Center for Western Priorities, which described it as a gift to private logging interests that undermines a long-successful conservation policy.

“It’s ridiculous for Secretary Rollins to spin this as a move that will reduce wildfire risk or improve recreation. Commercial logging exacerbates climate change, increasing the intensity of wildfires,” said Rachael Hamby, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities, in an emailed statement. “This is nothing more than a massive giveaway to timber companies at the expense of every American and the forests that belong to all of us.”

The “Roadless Rule” repeal would mean more than 58 million acres of land in 38 states would lose their protections. In New Mexico, according to Forest Service data, about 1.6 million acres, or roughly 2,500 square miles, of land in all the state’s national forests have some level of protections. A 2003 Forest Service map suggests most of the areas losing protections are in the Santa Fe and Gila national forests.

The announcement drew mixed reactions from the western governors on stage at the Eldorado Hotel in Santa Fe. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican, said the state has been trying to repeal the rule there for years, saying it has left huge swaths of forest untreated and more-wildfire prone.

“A good forest is like a garden. You actually have to tend it and take care of it. If we do this the right way, we can prevent fires and improve production,” he said.

But New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham took a moment to defend President Clinton’s rule, which he implemented in the final days of his second term in office.

“Climate change is the biggest problem in fueling these damaging fires,” she said, drawing applause.

“Well, we may agree to disagree on that, but that’s a debate for another time,” Rollins said.

“No, it’s a debate right here in this room,” the governor responded. “You’re in New Mexico and we’re very clear about that.”

Lujan Grisham went on to thank Rollins for trying to give states “more independence” when it comes to forest management, and also said Clinton himself would likely appreciate the push for more wildfire mitigation.

Rollins made the announcement during one of several keynote addresses by President Donald Trump’s cabinet members during the WGA conference. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum spoke earlier Monday, and Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke afterward.

Rollins previewed the announcement during a news conference, during which she also discussed the current wildfires in the state, and referred to the U.S. Forest service employees flanking her as “patriots.”

For too long, she said, “western states, especially those with large swaths of land administered by our incredible Forest Service, have been inhibited from innovating because of burdensome regulations imposed by the federal government…This has a huge impact on so many communities, especially when the federal government ties its own hands with burdensome regulations and does not properly manage the land.”

Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.

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